Delhi discoms to pay consumers for long power cuts from September

DERC on Friday notified the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (Supply Code and Performance Standards) Regulations, 2017, under which consumers will get a compensation of Rs10 per kW per hour from the discom if they delay in restoring an outage for more than two or three hours.

Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) on Friday notified a new rule under which consumers will get a compensation of Rs10 per kW per hour from the discom if they delay in restoring an outage for more than two or three hours. (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

Come September and you will get paid if distribution companies delay in restoring a power cut in your house.

The capital’s power regulator on Friday notified the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (Supply Code and Performance Standards) Regulations, 2017, under which consumers will get a compensation of Rs10 per kW per hour from the discom if they delay in restoring an outage for more than two or three hours.

The scheme will be available for every household that has a sanctioned electricity load of up to 20 kW and the maximum amount payable for an outage will be Rs200 per hour. For houses having a load of more than 20kW, the consumer will have to file a claim for compensation before the power regulator’s Commission.

However, consumers who have unpaid electricity bills or have been involved in power theft in the last two years will not be eligible for any compensation.

The regulation that will be effective from September 1, assumes significance as chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in June had asked the power department to re-draft a proposal for compensating consumers for unscheduled power cuts.

“Although this is not the compensation scheme that is being prepared for unscheduled power cuts, this is going to help make the discoms accountable. We just got suggestions from the law department on that proposal. So, it is still at the drafting stage,” said principal secretary (power) Varsha Joshi.

The new regulations are good news for the city’s tenants as the process to get a direct electricity connection from the discoms has been simplified. “For tenants, to get electricity connection directly from the discom, we have done away with the requirement of documents like proof of ownership and NOC from the landlord. The supply shall generally be provided through pre-payment metre,” said a DERC official.

Instead, the tenant will have to produce only one document for getting a connection which can be either a valid lease agreement or a rent receipt, he added.

Among the other rules, the DERC has also reduced the time period for release of new electricity connections, where no Right of Way permission is required, from 15 days to seven days. Submission of applications for new connection for 50kVA load and above through online system, has been made mandatory. Besides, explicit provisions have been incorporated in the regulations for conversion of single point connection into individual connections.